Overview
- Using NHANES data from 1999–2018, researchers analyzed 5,000 adults across six income tiers for 13 dementia risk factors.
- Each step up in income category was linked to a 9% lower likelihood of having an additional midlife risk factor, except for obesity, high LDL cholesterol and traumatic brain injury.
- After adjusting for income, Black, Mexican American and other underrepresented groups still had stronger associations with diabetes, physical inactivity, obesity and vision loss than White adults.
- The authors estimate that addressing late-life vision loss could mitigate roughly 21% of dementia cases and reducing social isolation about 20% in low-income populations.
- External experts endorsed the emphasis on social and structural determinants and called for targeted prevention and more inclusive research, noting the cross-sectional, self-reported design limits causal inference.